


Works of Nature

by Elenchus



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Canon Era, Gen, pure silliness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-24 20:35:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14961729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elenchus/pseuds/Elenchus
Summary: While Grantaire gave the shopkeeper what he probably thought was a winning smile, Marius tried to fade unobtrusively into the wallpaper.“We are here,” Grantaire announced in a loud stage whisper, “for the ‘special texts.’” He winked conspiratorially. Marius edged further away and pretended to be absorbed a row of books about medieval apiarists.Marius tries to accomplish a task for Les Amis de l'ABC. Grantaire takes it upon himself to help.





	Works of Nature

While Grantaire gave the shopkeeper what he probably thought was a winning smile, Marius tried to fade unobtrusively into the wallpaper.

“We are here,” Grantaire announced in a loud stage whisper, “for the ‘special texts.’” He winked conspiratorially. Marius edged further away and pretended to be absorbed a row of books about medieval apiarists.

The shopkeeper – a little old lady who barely came up to Grantaire’s chest – looked doubtful. “The special…texts? Well, I don’t know…I suppose you might take a look and see if we have what you’re looking for.”

Grantaire winked again, even more painfully unsubtle. “You needn’t worry; we’ve been sent by common ‘friends’ to handle the matter.”

Technically, that wasn’t true. Marius had been sent, or rather, he’d had Enjolras suggest he might drop by the bookshop without attracting notice and see whether there had been any messages left by sister groups. Grantaire had inserted himself in the task by the act of following after Marius and explaining that he would condescend to help Marius and teach him the trade. He was impervious to all polite suggestions that Marius thought he’d be all right alone, and that surely Grantaire had more important ways to spend his time.

Marius would admit to some relief that he didn’t have to ask the sweet-looking old lady if she had any seditious messages. With any luck she would assume he was just another customer wandering about the store. And against all odds, what Grantaire was doing seemed to be working – the shopkeeper waved Grantaire towards at room at the back of the shop and brought out a small box of books. Grantaire grabbed Marius’ arm and dragged him away from the book he was pretending to read on beetle habitats in Northern Germany.

“I’ll say it; I’ll be glad to have those things off my hands,” the shopkeeper told them. “I can’t read a bit of it, and thanks be to God for that. We run a respectable shop here, and I won’t have it elsewise. You can sort it out yourselves; take what you came for and leave whatever’s fit for decent folk.”

Grantaire slapped Marius on the back so hard he almost fell over. “Leave it to us,” he told the old woman confidently.

* * *

“Grantaire. This is all. It’s. This.” Marius gestured helplessly at the books in front of them.

“Pornography,” Grantaire confirmed. “Utter filth. Irredeemable smut. Do you think there’s any chance this was what Enjolras wanted us to pick up?” he added, with a hopeful note in his voice.

Marius opened another book, and then shut it quickly. “This one has _pictures_.”

Grantaire picked the offending book. “It certainly does!” He sounded impressed, which Marius took as a particularly bad sign. He sighed and went back to the (thankfully) non-illustrated works.

“Five in German, three in English, I think this one is Spanish, and these four seem to be a mix of classical Latin and ancient Greek. Probably anthologies.” Marius reported.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” said Grantaire

“It means we mixed something up,” said Marius glumly. “Maybe it’s the wrong shop, maybe we came on the wrong day, maybe you said exactly the wrong things to the shopkeeper.” Marius was banking on that last one at least.

“Incorrect! It means we must to scan through all these works for any hidden messages. Duty summons us, and even the Pontmercys and Grantaires of the world must occasionally answer her call. To arms! Let the pen serve in place of the sword. And who knows, you may even learn something useful.” Grantaire shoved the pile of German books towards Marius and grabbed a Latin text for himself.

“I don’t think any of this is even physically possible,” Marius grumbled as he neared the end of another little booklet. Somehow once he was engrossed in the work of translation it was hard to be scandalized by the salacious nature of the text. He was still offended on a purely literary level however.

“I could endeavor to find out,” Grantaire said with a leer. “I’ve taken notes on some of the more adventurous frontispieces.”

Marius ignored him. “And look at this, this page is half falling out and it isn’t even in proper German! It’s like someone tried to write German backwards while using an English dictionary and Latin grammar, while only speaking French! I know this is all absolute trash, but surely there must be some authorial pride.”

Grantaire pulled the book out of Marius’ hands and squinted at the offending page. “Pontmercy, for once you may have proven useful. Truly, nature makes nothing in vain, not even Marii.”

“ _Excuse_ me,” said Marius heatedly.

“You are excused,” Grantaire agreed magnanimously, “provided you assist me in working out the code used here and ascertaining whether it’s what our noble leader sent me to fetch.”

Marius considered objecting to the pronoun in that last statement, but after a moment more looking at the page in front of them he was too engrossed by the puzzle to care.

* * *

Enjolras nodded solemnly as Marius handed over the encrypted pages, along with their best guesses at translation. “Well done.”

Marius supposed that meant Enjolras was happy. It was hard to tell; Marius had never seen him with an expression that couldn’t be described as “severe,” “reverent,” or “gazing pensively into the infinite."

Grantaire, standing next to him, was much easier to read. He was positively beaming. Marius didn’t think he’d ever seen _that_ expression before either, and frankly it was unsettling.

Enjolras finished sifting through the papers and gave them another nod. Grantaire beamed harder. Marius edged slightly towards the door. “Thank you. These were not the letters I expected, but they were meant for a mutual contact. You did well to find them.”

“It was nothing,” said Marius. “I mean, I did not mind. Er.” He jumped a little as Grantaire thumped his back.

“Marius’ powers of investigation are a triumph!” declared Grantaire. “He spent hours pouring over half a dozen volumes, not a single one in French. I commend him to you!”

Marius eyes the door longingly. “I- well- it was you who noticed the code.”

“And you who found it in the first place!” Grantaire moved his hands to Marius’ shoulders, standing behind him and practically presenting him to Enjolras. “Our Pontmercy persevered; nothing could shake him from his task. Praiseworthy indeed!”

“Indeed,” agreed Enjolras.

Marius examined his own recollection of events, and found Grantaire’s account severely lacking. “ _You_ were the one who said we should stay – I was going to leave!”

“Nothing could shake you from your task after the first half hour or so. Still, every champion has his moment of doubt,” Grantaire allowed.

“I wouldn’t have even gotten past the bookseller without you! You could have done it all without me!”

“I would have thrown that dreadful novella about the milkmaid in the Seine before I ever found the letter!”

“Well, _I_ -”

Marius stopped as Enjolras coughed politely. “I…congratulate both of you. It was well done. I give you my thanks.”

Grantaire appeared to suffer ecstasies. Marius decided it was high time he disentangled himself from Grantaire’s grasp. “If that’s all, I think I’ll go sit down.”

Grantaire magnanimously let go and pulled out a chair for Marius. He called for a round of drinks and – to Marius surprise – pushed them all in front of Marius when they arrived.

“I don’t think I can- oh, never mind,” said Marius, seeing the smile still on Grantaire’s face. He pushed one glass back towards Grantaire. “But…thank you. I think. I- I’m glad I wasn’t alone today.”

Grantaire drank to that.


End file.
